Magnum shakes his head. “Not at all.” He hugs me closer to him briefly. “If it was just a father-son spat, that would be one thing. But you’re Crew business now, and at the moment, Johnny’s acting like you aren’t. He’s acting as if you’re a separate entity he gets to have for himself. Something he’s using his own mind on.”
Uneasiness sweeps over me, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. Big Daddy K runs a tight ship. This won’t go over well with him. He likes to have every aspect of Johnny and the gang planned out himself. That’s why he made up the no sex rule, using me as Johnny’s prize for when he moved up.
“I need you to be extra careful,” Magnum whispers hoarsely. “The last thing we need is for K to see you as a threat rather than an asset. Johnny’s smart enough to know this, too, so if he doesn’t come right back to the Heights, don’t put his balls in a vise for it.”
Interesting choice of words, though not far off from where my mind was headed. However, it’s unfair of me to think that way. It’s only because I want to see him so badly that I want him on the next plane out of Chicago.
The car starts to slow, so Magnum slips me off him, creating space between us. “Be very careful. Trust no one but me, Brawler, and Oscar.”
I lift my brows. “Johnny?”
Magnum strokes his facial hair. “I fucking hope so, Kyla.” He glances out of the car. “From this moment forward, you be the good little Crew girlfriend. Got it?”
Before I can answer, he opens the door and stretches his legs out into the familiar underground parking lot.
Emotions tumble inside me. Some hopeful, some laced with anger, but mostly, I do as Magnum says and paint the face of a Crew girl on the outside.
4
Disappointment slows my feet, making me stop in the middle of my tower apartment when I realize Johnny’s not here. The whole building is suspiciously quiet. No hum of energy on the upper floors. No security personnel walking around. Magnum and I didn’t see a single soul on the way to our floor.
As if reading my expression, which I have no doubt he can, Magnum says, “Most everyone went to Chicago. There’s just a few key people here to talk with the lawyer and—”
“What about Finn? He said he spoke to Johnny.”
“He called him. He had their number because of the gym charges on his credit card.”
I blow out a breath. “Hopefully, that’s the last time we’ll need them. I don’t want them mixed up in this shit.”
“Agreed,” Mag says, wrinkles appearing between his nose. “The fewer the better.” He scans the place, but keeps on coming back to me, almost like he can’t bear to look away. The discussion we had in the car makes my skin prick. His arms around me felt so right. Like, I don’t understand what we were waiting for before.
I glance around the place, noticing everything is just as it was when I left. The housekeeping staff must have been through like usual. There isn’t a speck of dust inside the place. My bedroom door is open, and I peek through the entryway to find my bed made with what are probably fresh sheets even though I haven’t slept here in weeks.
Magnum’s phone goes off in his pocket, and I almost jump. He takes it out, immediately bringing it to his ear. “Yeah. I got her.” Magnum moves his stare to look at me. “Sure.”
He holds out the phone. I raise my eyebrows, and Magnum nods.
I take the phone, hand shaking a little no matter how hard I try to calm it down. While I was gone, I tried not to think of this moment because I didn’t know if it would ever happen. “Hello?”
Johnny expels a breath that sounds as if the weight of the world has been on his shoulders. “Babe.”
I bite down on my lip. I secretly love it that he calls me babe, and I freaking missed it. “Yeah.” I smile but smooth it out afterward. I’m caught between happiness and sweet relief.
“Has Magnum checked your rooms yet?”
I glance up to find Magnum walking through the apartment. He disappears into the bedroom, pokes his head into the bathroom before coming back out and looking in the front closet. “Yeah. We’re all clear.”
Another sigh passes his lips. “I’m sorry I’m not there. I’m sorry— Fuck, I’m sorry for so many fucking things right now.”
“It’s not your fault.”
He growls, the sound ripping from his throat and almost knocking me on my heels. “I brought you into the Crew. It is my fault.”
A hot sweat breaks out over my forehead. If he only knew I wanted to be brought into the Crew. “Well, I’m not playing that game with you, so you can stop it. What’s done is done. You got me out.” I wish I could see his face right now, but I imagine he’s chewing his lip, going back and forth between continuing to argue with me and wanting to hold me.
“Did Magnum fill you in?”
“I think so,” I say, peeking at Magnum who’s taken up a spot by the door. He crosses his arms, legs spread wide in that authoritative stance I love.
His voice comes out strained. “I want to be there with you. You know that, right?”
“I know.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. In the meantime, Magnum and Oscar will be watching over you. The tower is safe. No one will be coming for you anytime soon. We took out a couple of Gregory’s guys even though we haven’t been able to fucking find him yet. We’ve been gathering as much intel as we can, and I’m trying to convince my father to get our asses back to the Heights so we can do more. I’m hoping now that the charges against you have been dropped, he’ll relent.”
The animosity coming through the line isn’t veiled at all. He’s clearly pissed at his father. “You know I’m with you one hundred percent.”
He groans. “God, I just need to see that you’re okay. I’m dying here—” A voice calls for Johnny on the other end of the line, and Johnny snaps. “I said give me a fucking minute.”
A short pause silences the line before the same person says, “Are you finally talking to her? Thank fuck. Your morose ass is unpleasant.” I pin the voice as coming from Jiko Cardinale immediately. It’s an easy deduction knowing they’re in Chicago and Johnny doesn’t let just anyone talk to him that way.
A glass shattering breaks the connection for a second.
“Alright, alright,” Jiko says, cracking up like it’s any other day. The asshole is fucking laughing. “Hey there, Kyla,” he shouts. “I’m glad you didn’t end up in an orange jumpsuit. It wouldn’t suit you.” I roll my eyes, but there’s a yelp and a slammed door on the other side of the line.
Fucking good. I hope Johnny hurt him. “What did you do?”
“Just pulled my knife on him.”
I cock my head to the side, wishing I could’ve seen that one. “I thought Jiko was your friend.”
“He talks too goddamn much.”
Now that makes me smile, which makes the tears threaten again. I haven’t smiled at all in the last six weeks. I’ve been going through the motions, doing what I’ve been told, but losing the guys was like missing pieces of myself. I’m already all the way down this road and then some. “Johnny, we have a lot of talking to do.”